The 17th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa with the theme ‘Now More Than Ever: Targeting Zero’ will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa from 7th – 11th December 2013.

The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) and the AIDS Legal Network (ALN), will co-host the Human Rights Zone (HRZ) at ICASA.

The Human Rights Zone, themed; “Now More than Ever: Human Rights at the Centre of the HIV Response in Africa” will provide a public space in which individuals and organisations can participate in activities that underscore the importance of keeping human rights at the centre of the HIV response in Africa.

The Human Rights Zone programme will cover three full day sessions focusing on the following six key topics:

1) The right to health on the African human rights agenda

2) Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights to HIV

3) Enabling legal, social and policy environments for rights-based approaches to HIV prevention and treatment

The programme will include a variety of activities such as panel discussions; ‘Meet the Experts’ sessions; skills-building workshops and Q&A sessions. In addition to these, the Human Rights Zone will also introduce the latest reports on human rights challenges in the context of HIV in Africa, showcase various evidence-based advocacy tools, and disseminate publications and materials calling for human rights to be at the centre of the response to HIV at a national, regional and global level.

The success of this Zone will depend on the participation of organisations and activists who promote a rights-based response to HIV in Africa.

We would therefore like to invite you to contribute to the Human Rights Zone, by indicating your interest to host a session, speak on the topics identified above; share audio-visual materials on the topics identified above; or support the mobilisation of human rights activists for participation in various advocacy activities during ICASA 2013, such as a march on International Human Rights Day.

Please note that we are not in a position to provide financial support for participation. Thus we encourage only those who are already confirmed to attend and have secured financial support to participate, to respond to this call.